I Ain't Sing'n No Swan Song For Joe... Yet

My daughter, Janine, asked me about importing turtles to my pond.  A fortuitous question as I had looked into just that possibility this past weekend.  I like turtles.  I would like to have them in my pond. 

Years ago, way back in about 1970 I lived in San Jose, California.  In our backyard we had a bunch of ivy growing around the edge of the yard and then a small amount of grass.  The whole thing was maybe 20' X 20'.  One day a small Red Eared Slider showed up in our backyard.  It was small and seemed happy there so we fed it here and there but mostly left it alone.  In the late fall it disappeared and was back in the spring.  The little guy grew rapidly and over the course of a couple of seasons it had more than doubled in size.  Not a lot of bother but fun to have around.  When we moved from there to Colorado he stayed with the back yard.

So I was considering getting one or two of these critters and introducing them to the pond.  I started reading about them.  The only negative thing I found about owning a Red Eared Slider is they tend to wander.  If you don't have a fence to keep them in you can expect them to leave. 

They also need water and they need to be able to get out of the water.  They enjoy basking in the sun.  In the winter they hibernate and will bury themselves in dirt at the bottom of the pond.  In fact, if you don't have dirt you should provide it, possibly by putting clay kitty litter and sand in a plastic tub and submerging it in your pond.  Kinda like a bed.  Goodnight John Boy.  Goodnight Mary Ellen.

They, like bull frogs, breath through their skin during the winter hibernation.  Once the water temperature gets into the middle to low 50's they should not be fed and will start slowing down until they start hibernating.

All this is well and good and I would actually get a few except for the wandering business.  I have no interest in putting up short fencing around my pond.  The pond is too big.  It would look crappy.  It isn't going to happen.

So I was thinking about Joe and the similarities between her and turtles.  Then I remembered that last year, in fact it's less than a year, it was August actually, when Joe showed up in the pond.  Yep, go look at the first blog post, August 14, 2008.  With this in mind and my optimistic outlook, I'm going to keep the door open for Joe to return. 

I've mentioned the Swan Song a few times now so I'll tell you the short version of the story:
The phrase "swan song" is a reference to an ancient belief that the Mute Swan is completely mute during its lifetime until the moment just before it dies, when it sings one beautiful song.

The well-known Orlando Gibbons-Madrigal (The Silver Swan) states the legend thus:

The silver Swan, who living had no Note,
when Death approached, unlocked her silent throat.
Leaning her breast against the reedy shore,
thus sang her first and last, and sang no more:
"Farewell, all joys! O Death, come close mine eyes!
"More Geese than Swans now live, more Fools than Wise."